Goodbye, Old Friend
by tiff0795
Summary: The Rugrats are all broken up as they say goodbye to their best friend.
1. Chapter 1

Angelica drove down the road, trying to keep her vision clear. Looking in the rear-view mirror, she saw Phil and Lil at either side side of the backseat with Kimi in the middle. The three of them had red eyes from crying and Angelica knew she would have to clean tissues out of her car later. She took a quick look to the passenger side to get a quick look at Chuckie. He was leaning up against the window, crying silently. Luckily between the rain and the radio, they were all able to keep their sobs to themselves. They still couldn't believe what happened.

Angelica's cell phone rang while she was doing her hair. Having her hands full at the moment, she let it go to voice mail. When it stopped ringing, it waited a total of three seconds before it started ringing again. Guessing it had to be urgent, she answered.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Angelica..." came a voice, in-between sobs.

"Tommy?" Angelica asked, recognizing her cousin's voice. "What's wrong?"

"He's...he's not going to...we have to..." Tommy sobbed. She could hear Dil crying in the background and knew immediately what was happening.

"Tommy, tell your mom and Dad I'm coming. I'll call all of the kids and pick them up and take them up there," Angelica said, choking back tears. "Just give me two minutes to get my keys and get going. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Tommy have a sound that sounded something like "fine", although she couldn't tell through the sobs.

She hung up and just threw her hair up into a ponytail. It didn't matter how it looked, now. She called Chuckie, with him being the first of the kids on her contacts list. "Come on, pick up," she mumbled to himself.

He picked up on the third ring. "Angelica?" he asked.

"Chuckie, it's happening," Angelica said, grabbing her keys and shoes.

There was a long pause on Chuckie's end. "What?" he asked. She could tell that he was stunned.

"It's time. Tell Kimi, I'm coming to pick up you guys and the twins," she said, putting on her shoes.

She heard him scream for Kimi and attempted to tell her what was going on, but broke down half-way through. She could hear Kimi starting to cry in the background. "If you can hear me, be ready, I'll be there ASAP," Angelica said, walking out the door and got into her car. She heard a sound of understanding from the other end and then a click of them hanging up.

She dialed Lil's number as she started the ignition. "Hello?" she heard from the other end after two rings.

"Lil, it's Angelica. Get Phil and be ready. I'm coming to pick you guys up," she said, pulling out of the driveway and making her way to the Finster's house.

"Why?" Lil asked a little uncertainly, but she could hear her making her way to go get Phil.

"Tommy just called, it's time," Angelica said.

There was a slight pause on the other end before she heard Lil scream for Phil. She heard Phil in the background and Lil filling him in. Angelica turned into the Finster's driveway.

"When will you be here?" Lil asked, her voice threatening to crack. She could hear the twins scrambling in the background.

"I'm picking up Chuckie and Kimi now and I'll be there, be ready," Angelica said as Kimi and Chuckie came out of the house, tears streaming down their faces.

"Okkay, we will," Lil said, she could hear the sobs in her voice, and then a click.

Chuckie got into the passenger seat and Kimi got in the back seat. "Phil and Lil are coming, too," Angelica said after they buckled their seat belts. They both nodded. Chuckie leaned up against the window and Kimi leaned forward. Angelica put on the radio so there weren't as self-conscious.

She dialed Susie's number as she left the Finster's driveway and made her way to Phil and Lil's.

She answered on the fifth ring. "Angelica, what's the matter? I'm about to go to work," Susie said.

"Susie, it's happening," Angelica said. That caused another round of quiet sobs from Chuckie and Kimi.

"What?" Susie said as Angelica turned onto Phil and Lil's street.

"Yep, I'm picking up the twins right now and already have Chuckie and Kimi and we're going over there," Angelica said, turning into the Deville's driveway.

"Why did you have to tell me that?" Suzie mumbled. "I'm so sorry, tell everyone I'm sorry, I'll be over as soon as I get off work."

"Go to Tommy's house," Angelica said as the twins walked out the door, crying.

"I was planning on it, I wasn't going to ask you guys to wait for me," Susie said. The twins got into the car on either side of Kimi.

"Alright, see you then. Just picked up the twins and we're on our way," Angelica said, pulling out of the driveway as the twins buckled themselves.

"Okkay, send them all my regards," Susie said. "I really have to go." And with that, she hung up.

"Is Susie going to be there?" Chuckie asked softly.

"No, she has to work, she'll come to the house after we get home from-" Angelica said, but cut herself off as the tears threatened to escape, and that brought a whole new round of sobs from the kids. She refused to let herself break down in front of them, not only was it not safe while she was driving, and she was trying to get to her cousins as soon as possible.

She stopped at a stoplight as it started to rain. "Yep, just perfect," she mumbled and turned on the wipers. She looked into the rear-view mirror at Kimi and the twins. Their eyes were bloodshot and red and puffy. She looked over at Chuckie. His face was red with tears staining his face.

The light turned green and Angelica pressed on the gas as much as the speed limit would allow. It wasn't very far, but in the emotionally damaged state they were all in, it seamed like forever before they pulled into the parking lot.

They all got out and Angelica didn't even bother to lock her car as they made their way to the entrance. Angelica walked ahead of the kids as they made their way to the receptionist.

"Pickles?" she asked. That was all she dared to say.

"Second door on the left," the receptionist said, pointing.

Angelica nodded in thanks as she walked to the door. The kids followed her. She took a deep breath and opened the door. She was greeted by Tommy hugging her, bawling. Dil sat on the floor, crying. The kids knelt down next to Dill, starting to bawl. That's when Angelica finally lost it. She hugged Tommy and started to bawl herself. They were losing the one who was always with them, that would always watch out for them. She broke the hug and knelt down next to the kids. She remembered when the babies were lost, and he drug her into the woods to save them, and how he risked his life defending them from that wolf. With Tommy still clutching her, she softly pet Spike's head. He weakly looked at them and softly licked Angelica's face of the tears. She knew that was the last time he would ever do that. This is what they've all been dreading since they found out that Spike was sick. At sixteen years old, they had to put him down.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where's Stu and Didi?" Angelica asked.

"Talking about arrangements," Tommy muttered. Angelica nodded. She didn't care what they decided right now. At that moment, all she wanted was do, what any of them wanted to do, was to be with Spike.

"Why, why did this have to happen?" Dil asked between sobs.

"He's old, Dil, it's amazing he lasted as long as he has," Angelica said quietly, trying to convince herself as much as Dil. "I mean, think about it, he's older than me and I drove myself here."

"He was my big brother," Tommy mumbled, and clung to Angelica, a new round of hysterics coming up.

"I know, I know, he was all of ours," Angelic said, rubbing Tommy's back. That brought a whole new round of hysterics from everyone, including herself. It was true, and she knew it. "Susie says she's sorry, but she has to work. She'll at the house later."

Tommy nodded in understanding as he stroked Spike's stomach. Spike was taking turns licking the tears off of everyone's faces. He must have known that this was it.

" I just can't believe it," Chuckie said. "He's like one of us."

"One of the gang," Lil said, nodding in agreement.

"He was here before I even got here," Kimi said.

"He was here before any of us have gotten here," Phil corrected. They sat in silence except for the quiet sobs coming from everyone until the door opened and Stu and Didi walked into the room.

"When are you guys ready?" Stu asked.

"Never," Tommy said, a little more snappish than he intended.

"We may want to get it over with," Angelica said. She looked at all of the kids, who slowly nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let me tell the vet," Stu said as they walked out of the room.

"Can we stay here?" Tommy asked.

"Do you think you can handle on it?" Angelica said. Tommy shook his head.

Angelica sighed as the door opened. The vet walked into the room with Stu and Didi behind her.

"The kids want to stay here," Angelica said "and so do I."

"Do you think you can handle it?" Didi asked.

"No," everyone answered, honestly. The adults all looked at each other.

"Well, if you guys really want to stay with him, we can't stop you," Stu said.

The vet went onto the floor with the group of kids. "I give two types of medicine," the vet explained. "The first one is to put him to sleep, like we would do with surgery. The second type is the one that actually stops the heart."

The kids nodded in understanding. "Alright, I'm going to do it," the vet said. She injected the first medicine into Spike. Spike looked up at the kids and his eyes looked distant. Then, she injected the second medicine, more slowly than the first. After a few seconds, the vet put the stethoscope to his heart and felt around.

"He's gone," the vet said.

The kids then went into a whole new round of hysterics, barely able to breathe.

"Do you guys want a few minutes alone with him?" the vet asked. Everyone shook their head. Who would want to spend any time with their dead best friend?

"We decided to bury him in the backyard, because that's where he loved to be with you guys," Stu explained. The kids nodded.

"Let's go, guys," Angelica said, standing up. Chuckie, Kimi, Phil, and Lil all stood up and followed her. "We'll meet you out the house," Angelica told her aunt and uncle as the kids walked out the door. Before they left, the vet took Spike and picked him up, and he went limp in her arms. Angelica quickened her step as she led the kids out the door and back to her car. She started the ignition and turned off the radio. She didn't really want to listen to that. The kids all crossed their arms and looked out the window, trying to calm themselves down. Angelica put the car into gear and in pained silence, they made their way to the empty Pickle's home.

**A.N.: Short, I know, but I thought this was pretty emotional and I feel it can be a lot to digest. If you like this, check out my other All Grown Up fic, "Tommy's Torture", which is my first one.**


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